Chapter 149 Why Ask for So Much Money

Xiao Yu hurriedly followed after him, thinking that He Haoxuan probably came from a well-off family and had high standards for food and drink. If he ordered some expensive wine, the amount they would all have to chip in would increase significantly.

However, by the time Xiao Yu ran over, He Haoxuan had already ordered the drinks and was turning around to walk back.

"Brother Xuan, what kind of wine did you order?" Xiao Yu asked with a hint of worry.

"Sigh, what kind of wine could it be? The wine here is complete trash, so I just ordered something cheap," He Haoxuan replied helplessly.

"Cheap is fine, cheap is great," Xiao Yu said happily.

Affordable was good; they had wanted to order cheaper options in the first place to avoid having to collect extra money from everyone later.

Back at the table, Xu Yang anxiously asked Xiao Yu, "What wine did Brother Xuan order? He didn't pick the most expensive one, did he?"

"No, he said he ordered the cheap one," Xiao Yu shook her head and smiled, "Don't worry, Xu Yang. Brother Xuan knows what he's doing and won't go overboard."

"Sigh, he might know what he's doing when it comes to you, but I'm afraid he has no sense of proportion when it comes to the rest of us," Xu Yang said with a bitter expression. "If he can really help us recover all the overdue payments, we'd gladly treat him to a meal here again. But we haven't even started yet, and we're treating him beforehand—everyone is feeling uneasy about this."

"Brother Xuan said he will go debt-collecting with you tomorrow," Xiao Yu smiled.

Because Xu Yang and the others had ordered beforehand, the dishes arrived very quickly.

Seeing such fine dishes (at least relative to what they were used to), Xiao Yu and the others were overjoyed and eagerly started eating.

Meanwhile, the waiter brought over two cases of red wine—twelve bottles in all—and had them all opened.

After all, with more than twenty people, sharing one bottle between two wasn't really a big deal.

Xu Yang took a sip of the red wine, found the taste exceptionally pleasant, took three more sips in succession, and nodded inwardly, "Not bad, this red wine is delicious."

The waiter standing nearby smiled and said, "Of course, this is the finest red wine our hotel has to offer."

"What? The finest red wine in your hotel? How much does this cost?" Hearing this, Xu Yang's hand trembled so violently that his wine glass almost slipped from his grasp.

Xiao Yu hastily asked, "Waiter, how much is a bottle of this red wine?"

"Eight hundred and eighty-eight yuan a bottle," the waiter smiled.

These people were truly generous. Even though they were eating in the main dining hall, they ordered such high-end red wine right off the bat. The meal itself only cost around two thousand yuan, but the wine alone came out to nearly ten thousand.

"What?" The expressions on Xu Yang and the others shifted dramatically as they exchanged bewildered glances.

Twelve bottles of red wine at eight hundred and eighty-eight yuan each would amount to nearly ten thousand yuan. Add that to the food and other drinks, and the total reached twelve thousand yuan. With twenty-four people present, everyone would have to shell out five hundred yuan.

Suddenly, Xu Yang felt the red wine in his cup lose its appeal. No, it was still extremely delicious, but it was impossible to swallow anymore.

Xu Yang angrily demanded of Xiao Yu, "Xiao Yu, didn't you say Brother Xuan ordered cheap wine?"

Before Xiao Yu could answer, He Haoxuan replied, "That's right. Under nine hundred yuan a bottle—it really is cheap."

Xiao Yu was left speechless. What He Haoxuan considered "cheap" apparently meant eight hundred and eighty-eight yuan a bottle, rather than picking the cheapest bottle the hotel had on the menu.

"What is going on here? This isn't right."

"Exactly. We're the ones hosting the treat, so how could He Haoxuan go and order such expensive red wine on his own?"

"And to top it off, we have to cough up another four hundred yuan each now. What are we supposed to do?"

The sales representatives all wore long faces, completely at a loss for what to do.

Xiao Yu hurriedly tried to placate them, "Please don't panic, everyone. Brother Xuan just wants us to eat well, and he'll help you recover the overdue payments tomorrow."

"Xiao Yu, if he can genuinely help us recover every single cent of the debt, we'll swallow the extra four hundred yuan and accept it," a male sales rep across the table said through clenched teeth.

"Right, but if he fails, we're going to blow our top," another sales rep chimed in.

They had the power to elect He Haoxuan as section chief, and they could just as easily vote him out.

He Haoxuan's actions left them feeling deeply resentful; things simply shouldn't be handled this way.

Only then did He Haoxuan realize what everyone was fussing about. He smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'll be footing the bill for this meal."

"Hmph, easy for him to say, but in the end, it'll still be us paying out of our own pockets. Chen Zhi Dong used to pull the exact same stunt," Xu Yang muttered bitterly to himself.

The rest of the meal was consumed in a thoroughly miserable atmosphere.

Seeing that everyone had nearly finished eating, Xiao Yu secretly exchanged a glance with Xu Yang and signaled him: "Xu Yang, come over for a second."

With that, Xiao Yu called Xu Yang aside. "Xu Yang, let's just accept the twelve thousand yuan total. As long as Brother Xuan helps everyone recover their debts tomorrow, it won't be an issue."

"Sigh, Xiao Yu, how about this? Why don't you pay for this with your credit card first, and as soon as we recover the debts, everyone will immediately hand you four hundred yuan. How does that sound?" Xu Yang's eyes rolled as he hatched this plan.

Two other colleagues had followed them over. The Fourth Sales Section was divided into three sub-teams, and these two sales reps were team leaders just like Xu Yang.

"That's right, we agree with Xu Yang's proposal," the other two team leaders echoed.

Xiao Yu was placed in a difficult spot. Oh sigh, this whole situation was turning into a major headache.

Xu Yang told Xiao Yu, "Look, Xiao Yu, this is the red wine Brother Xuan ordered himself, and he said he'd pay for it anyway. Why don't you have a word with him and get him to cover the wine bill while we pay for the food?"

There was no way Xiao Yu would put He Haoxuan on the spot like that, especially since they had agreed from the start to treat him.

"Never mind, I'll handle it myself. Just make sure that when Brother Xuan helps you recover your overdue payments later, each of you gives me four hundred yuan," Xiao Yu said.

Xu Yang smiled, "Don't worry, Xiao Yu. Would I ever try to cheat you?"

Xiao Yu shook her head and turned back toward the front desk.

Arriving at the counter, Xiao Yu first forked over the two thousand-plus yuan in cash, then charged the remaining ten thousand yuan to her own credit card, settling the bill in full.

As everyone was finishing up, He Haoxuan—completely unaware that Xiao Yu had secretly paid the bill—waved over a waiter and said, "Waiter, check, please."

With that, He Haoxuan extended his bank card.

"Sir, that young lady has already paid the bill," the waiter said, casting a disdainful glance at He Haoxuan.

This man was such a hypocritical show-off. If you're going to treat people to a meal, you should pay in advance or instruct the front desk that only you are permitted to pay and no one else can.

He had deliberately held back from paying, waited for the young woman to foot the bill, and only then stepped forward to pretend he was paying. Truly despicable.

"What? Xiao Yu, you paid the bill? How much was it? I'll transfer the money to you right now," He Haoxuan said, looking embarrassed when he learned Xiao Yu had paid, and hurriedly asking for her bank account number.

But how could Xiao Yu possibly take He Haoxuan's money? She shook her head frantically and said, "Brother Xuan, we invited you to dinner, so how could we possibly let you pay?"

"Xiao Yu, you shouldn't be doing this. You don't have much money to spare," He Haoxuan said, instantly seeing through her financial tight spot.

Looking slightly annoyed, Xiao Yu replied, "Brother Xuan, like I said earlier, as long as you help us recover the overdue payments and lead the colleagues in the Fourth Section to achieve even better performance, treating you to another grand feast like this won't be a problem at all."